Crescent Kicker
Crescent Kicker is a platforming/beat 'em up game developed by TimeStrike and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, released on August 28th, 1995 worldwide. It was developed simultaneously with BowieQuest and Aftershock as part of a three-title deal with Sega, with the focus of all three games being to continue the legacy of the slowly dying Genesis platform. The game's setting takes place on the fictional Planet Kickaxe, which is slowly being overtaken by desertification and excessive oil mining, driving its residents down to the remaining fertile corners of the world. The world government in response secretly hires an unusually fit and sassy kickboxer known as the "Crescent Kicker", whom they direct to eliminate the greedy oil tycoons threatening the world's last remaining natural locations and save the lives of many N.I.C.E. soldiers (Nature Is Classy Elites) that had been wounded by their equally greedy associates and cohorts. Though Crescent Kicker has been noted for its complex and expansive control scheme since its release, it has been lauded for its accessibility, levels of difficulty, and saving system. The Crescent Kicker can perform double jumps, wall kicks, floor slides, flutter flurries, air-to-ground dives, wall runs, downwards stomps, and especially strong special moves. These may aid her in either beating up waves of enemies or navigating the levels, and often more than not, it goes both ways. The player is tasked with taking down each area's local oil tycoon, all the while saving a percentage of N.I.C.E. soldiers as they go. Eating flashy sweets like chocolate kisses as the player goes along will temporarily power up the Crescent Kicker in various ways, such as limiting the lag between her attacks or giving all of her kicking attacks an easy parry function. The player travels all across Planet Kickaxe, going through a total of eight fully-fledged levels throughout their journey. Plot Manual introduction :Planet Kickaxe has always been known for its pristine beauty and signature curved geometry and was especially known for its dominance in kickboxing tournaments across the Milky Way Galaxy. The hydroelectric-powered cities across the planet were connected together through futuristic highways and pipelines, all of which had a role in nourishing nature and consistently providing Kickaxe with life following the urbanization it went under a few hundred years ago. Lately, however, Planet Kickaxe began seeing dramatic shifts for the worse in these kickboxing tournaments- over time, the planet's rivals trained their soldiers to outclass their enemies in every way. Over time, the cities of Kickaxe began to falter and crumble as they could no longer afford their own electric bills- this led to the organization and creation of seven oil tycoons, who are tasking themselves to drill within the planet to excavate its oil and burn it into fuel. This intense and careless mining would have negative impacts on the planet, with these greedy tycoons aiming to export oil across the galaxy in exchange for money. Little do they realize that the pollution would soon kill them all, however. :In response to the increasingly strengthening destruction dominating the globe, the Kickaxe government secretly invited the unusually fit and sassy Crescent Kicker to their office, assigning her the task of eliminating the greedy oil tycoons threatening the world's last remaining natural locations. She had also been assigned to save the lives of the N.I.C.E. soldiers that had been wounded in their battle against these greedy corporate leaders. Though the impatient and on-your-heels woman initially refused to take on such a task, she gleefully gave in when she was promised a reward- and when she was promised her adventure would be filmed the whole way through and sold to rake in mounds of cash. They also gave the greedy protagonist her own assistant, the Axe Dancer, to help her out against the tycoons. Accepting what she has to do now, the Crescent Kicker and her assistant kick off outside the office, speeding into the slowly decaying landscape of Kickaxe! As she heads off, a big truck equipped with cameras and flashy equipment quickly follows, preparing to take many photos and videos of the Crescent Kicker as they ventures across the globe. Little does the Crescent Kicker know, however, that the money her film might earn may possibly bring the planet to stardom and earn it the revenue it needs... Cutscenes Gameplay The key to surviving and winning ''Crescent Kicker is to get a strong grip on the game's control scheme and thoroughly learn it to the best of their ability. The player must venture through eight fully fledged levels, eliminating their respective local oil tycoons while saving whatever percentage of N.I.C.E. soldiers the game demands them to. With their plethora of abilities, the player should have little trouble sliding their way through the levels themselves, but they still need to put up the best fight they can against the many waves of enemies destined to head in their direction. The player is required to save the provided minimum of N.I.C.E. soldiers in any level before they can go fight its respective boss; they can warp between any checkpoint they've touched to press them forwards on their search. To top it all off, the player is always under a time limit to perform their tasks- if the player takes too long, the mission will be seen as a failure, and the player must restart the level all over again. The gameplay of Crescent Kicker happens to be quite fast-paced, with the player being capable of dismantling and crushing down enemies rather quickly while rolling through levels at high speeds. This has largely to do with the convenience of the player's moves behaving snappily at the touch of a button and with just how fast the Crescent Kicker moves in general. Rather than the levels making up the main meat of the game's difficulty, like with BowieQuest, the enemies and bosses handle this instead, and the N.I.C.E. soldiers can prove to be challenging to search for from time to time. Platforming takes a backseat in Crescent Kicker, with much of the level footing designed with player-to-enemy scenarios in mind, with the presence of these threatening foes being what's supposed to keep the player on their toes. The player needs to be careful to not take too much damage or lose their footing- the player doesn't get too many chances to live, and resetting from the beginning of a level can be painful later on. The player's moveset is very versatile, both when they're on the ground and when they're in the air. The Crescent Kicker can double jump, wall jump, and even run up walls for a short period of time like a ninja. She can also stomp down instantly from her position midair and perform a slide across the ground. These moves can be used together for sneaking around- it's key to stealth. She can also perform a variety of kicks that can damage the enemy and/or possibly kick them into the air. The Crescent Kicker can choose to perform a fluttering flurry of kicks horizontally or into the skies, or perform a damaging dive with her foot- these can both aid with platforming, as well. With all of these moves in the player's arsenal, moving through stages isn't all too challenging when the player finally learns what all of these moves do. The player can also perform especially strong special moves if they've dealt and/or taken enough damage, which can do a wipeout of all enemies on the screen or do massive damage. Throughout the levels, the player will commonly find flashing treats and other assorted goodies. Blue Sardines are the most common, which the player can collect to restore health, while Health Vials are the rarest, giving the player more chances to survive in the game. The player can also frequently find 10G/25G money bags through these levels- if she's close enough, the Crescent Kicker will automatically gravitate towards them! Be sure to break down all enemies first before snagging 'em. Collecting these money bags is necessary for letting the player purchase items from shops, however. The player can purchase White Chocolates, for example, to make their kicks send off afterimage projectiles, or purchase Peppermint Chocolates to instantly fuel their Rage Meter. Eating any foods besides Blue Sardines will restore the player's health by a small amount. The HUD for Crescent Kicker works as follows. Her icon will be found on the lower-left side of the screen, accompanied by a yellow bar representing her health and a red one right below it displaying her current rage. On the right side of the screen, the player can read the health meter(s) of the enemy or three they're currently attacking. The very top of the screen holds the player's time limit, with their accumulated score found right atop it. The current money the player has on hand can be found in the top right corner, and the number of soldiers they saved versus the number of ones they have to save can be found in the top left corner instead. The player will usually be playing the game on NORMAL mode, but they can switch to EXPERT mode if they believe themselves to be experienced enough at the game or switch to BEGINNER mode if they're generally newer to video games. "EXPERT" sharpens the game's difficulty curve, strengthening enemies by boosting their health bars and making them more plentiful while introducing platforming even more tricky to endure. "BEGINNER" does the very opposite, weakening enemies and making the levels more accessible to all players alike. Controls For Crescent Kicker, the player uses the traditional Sega Genesis controller. The player uses the D-Pad to left and right ( and ), and holding or on the ground will move the camera around in those specific directions. The button allows the player to pause the game. lets the Crescent Kicker - pressing again will let her . She can perform a if the player holds + midair, but if this move is done on the ground, she will instead across the ground. Holding against a wall will allow the Crescent Kicker to perform a , and letting go will let her perform a off of it. If the player presses while performing a quick drop, the move will be canceled- this is referred to in-game as . When locked in combat, the player can use their jumping techniques to carry their foe into the air and deal continuous damage to them without having to worry about them striking back. lets the player perform a series of powerful kicking moves. Tapping rapidly will let her lock the enemy into a (infinite series of kicks), and letting go will let her do a to knock the enemy away. On the ground, the player can hold + to perform a to launch an enemy high in the air, or hold + to perform a to space herself from enemies. Should the player use midair, she will perform a series of in the player's specified direction, which keep her momentum and deal great damage. If the player holds , though, she'll do a dive attack instead that lets her bounce off of enemies. will trigger the Crescent Kicker's special moves, of which she has five overall. Should she give or take enough damage during battle, she will fill her Rage Meter, which has five stages- she can use up to five quickly-performed special attacks altogether if that meter is filled completely. Depending on the direction the player's holding in when they press the C button, the Special Move is different, and typically works to take care of the enemies in the player's held direction. Assuming the player is facing to the right, the special moves are as follows: ( ), ( + ), ( + ), ( + ), and ( + ). Here are the Crescent Kicker's Special Moves: *' ' The Crescent Kicker will perform an axe kick while beginning to rapidly spin around like a tornado, being capable of moving left and right to rip through helpless groups of enemies. The move deals rapid-hit damage, so she won't deal much damage if she whips right past an enemy, but staying right in front of one will accumulate damage against it insanely quickly. For the move's six-second duration, the Crescent Kicker can jump and move around. *' ' This move has her perform a swift crescent kick, which sends a somewhat large crescent-shaped wave of fire horizontally. This flame can catch and drag many enemies at one time while dealing consistent damage to them- it serves the purpose of freeing room for the Crescent Kicker ahead of her. Against larger enemies, it will immediately dissipate, but not before leaving behind a highly damaging hurtbox that's great against bosses. *' ' The Crescent Kicker will first grab an enemy from behind before flipping over them, still holding onto them as she slams them into the floor and potentially into any nearby enemies. This is perhaps the simplest of her specials and unusually forces her to use her well-toned arms, but the unique element of this move is that it can be used against larger enemies and even bosses- and their huge hitboxes mean they can flatten many enemies. *' ' Lunar Axe might be really useful in a pinch, given how it can function as an especially high third jump if the player needs it. The Crescent Kicker will leap high into the air and come back down with a soaring axe kick, striking the heel of her foot into an enemy. The tip of her foot has a highly damaging hurtbox that can help her whittle down bosses quite fast. It can also be used to leap out of crowds and strike the leaders of gangs. *' ' Though "Zero Mercy Drop" is the hardest move of these to land and the player's only got one chance to use it, it deals the most damage to a single enemy and can save a lot of the player's precious time if it's used on bigger targets. Basically, the Crescent Kicker will perform a drop kick to push the enemy down to the ground. If the player catches up to them in time, they can perform a rewarding series of lethal foot stomps to crush them. Modes There are several available modes in Crescent Kicker. *' ' "Shining Time" serves as the story mode for Crescent Kicker and its main course, and the player can have up to three save files on it. They must steer their ass-kicking heroine through eight action-packed stages, beginning at the Autumn Meadows and finishing up at the Lockdown Shelter. Every level is played in order, but upon the game's completion, the player can choose to play any level at any time. For every level that's beaten, the game's progress will be saved, akin to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (assuming the player didn't choose the "No Save" option). Once Shining Time is beaten, the rest of the game's modes will become available. *' ' "Turbo Edition" is a bonus mode that the player can unlock after finishing the game at least once. This mode removes the requirement to gather up N.I.C.E. soldiers and removes all of the game's dialogue, becoming a much more straightforward adventure. This mode also removes the time limit gimmick, instead keeping track of the player's time spent overall. By the time the final boss is beaten, all the player's level times will be counted up and added together. Then, the player will be able to see how long it takes for them to beat the game in both in-game time and real time. Note that the player cannot save their progress in this mode, only their times. *' ' "In Reverse" is a bonus mode that the player can unlock if they've found all of the N.I.C.E. soldiers on any file in Crescent Kicker. It is a strange retooling of the original "Shining Time" adventure, with the player facing levels and bosses in backwards order! Lockdown Shelter is hardly a hassle now, but Autumn Meadows has become an enemy-stocked nightmare. The player also has stricter time limits to deal with, especially in the later levels, but luckily there's no N.I.C.E. soldiers to collect on the way. Upon the completion of this mode, the player can "Turbo" through it in the game's "Turbo Edition" mode if they so desire. *' ' The player can adjust music/sound volume controller configuration here, and additionally select whichever music tracks or sound effects they wish to play from the Sound Test. The Crescent Kicker will be sitting at a desk, record scratching to the game's hip-hop/metal infused soundtrack. Characters Vendors & Items The money bags the player regularly picks up throughout the levels can be used at the time-stopping vendors found in each stage, whereas they can purchase any items they desire. It is also at these vendors where the player's allowed to quicksave or quickly converse with the vendor owner. There are eight vendors overall, all reportedly made from DNA cloning, and thus it's hard to tell which one of these vendors is the real one. Nevertheless, they all have unique names and have slight differences in personality. If the player pauses the game, they can choose which item they wish to activate. *'Health Vials' can be purchased for each, but can be rarely found across the levels. If the player doesn't have any of these upon Crescent Kicker's next death, they will receive the game over screen and will be forced to reset the level from the very beginning. It's recommended to stock up on them whenever possible. *'Blue Sardines' can be purchased for each, being the player's primary method of restoring their health to the max. They are found more commonly across the levels than any other item, so purchasing them from a vendor isn't entirely necessary. Fake ones called "Red Herrings" have a slight reddish tint- and hurt on contact! *'Milk Chocolates' can be purchased with each, which give the Crescent Kicker a temporary parrying ability. Whenever she kicks, she'll counter any blows delivered in her direction at the same time and deal high damage to the enemy. If the player takes damage while under the effects of a Milk Chocolate, they'll lose the power. *'Dark Chocolates' can be purchased with each, giving the Crescent Kicker the ability to release weak afterimage projectiles for every kick she performs. These can pass through enemies to hit a bunch at once, though they don't deal anywhere as much damage as her Crescent Flame special. Lost when she takes damage. *'White Chocolates' limit the lag between the player's attacks, helping the Crescent Kicker's moves flow together sweeter and make her noticeably harder to counter. She can also unleash two specials instead of one. They can be purchased for each, and the effects are lost whenever the player next takes damage. *'Caramel Chocolates' are a rare breed of sweets, heightening the player's speed and letting them pass through enemies without taking damage for as long as she's dashing. She can also run up walls for much longer. She loses these effects the instant she collides with an enemy, reducing her speed back to normal. Sold for each. *'Peppermint Chocolates' instantly fuel the player's "Rage" meter to the maximum, and activate instantly upon collection. Little chunks of them can be found periodically, which always fill the Rage Meter by at least one stage. They're sold for each. Green varieties double the Rage Meter temporarily, but can't be found at vendors. *'Couverture Chocolates' can be purchased for each, and can only be found at vendors. Using one, the player can transform into the Crescent Master! Her Rage Meter will be doubled, but will start rapidly decreasing- in the meanwhile, she can travel around twice as fast and be twice as strong while always hovering midair. She's also invincible. *'Chocolate Chips' will fill the Crescent Kicker's belly with pure energy, powering her up by 1.2x to make her deal more damage to enemies if she's collected a minimum of 20. However, if the player goes a while without consuming any Chocolate Chips, her power will drop to 0.8x. A package of 20 can be purchased for . Levels Crescent Kicker boasts eight full levels overall, with all taking place on the oil industry-run Planet Kickaxe. All levels feature their own assets and happen to be among the most complex ones shown in video games at the time, with all of them seamlessly split into thirds with their own unique gimmicks and features attached to them. Bestiary A grand total of eighty enemies will face up against the Crescent Kicker during her travels, with ten unique enemies found per level. They form the basis of the game's challenge and usually take advantage of their environment and the Crescent Kicker's weaknesses. Most have average health bars that don't take much to deplete, but some enemies happen to be capable of withstanding a lot of damage, making them her greatest obstacle. The functionalities of these enemies vary on the level, usually taking advantage of stage-specific mechanics or obstacles. Bosses There are eleven bosses for the Crescent Kicker to take down, with five mini-bosses being commonly encountered throughout the game. Bosses are basically oversized enemies, but with wider pools of attacks and requiring much more memorization to be beaten. There are bosses found at the end of every level. On the EXPERT difficulty setting, some bosses gain new attacks and become tougher to beat down overall. In these boss battles, the Crescent Kicker will be accompanied by her sidekick, the Axe Dancer, whom she calls to battle. He will try to look for openings on the boss and seize them for the player, allowing them to strike their enemy for damage. Otherwise, he'll try distracting the boss or straight up attacking them. As he's vital to the player's success, he cannot be killed, but he can take "damage" and fall back if attacked, delaying progress. Achievements In the Steam and PlayStation ports of Crescent Kicker, there exists numerous achievements and trophies for the player to gather up on their own time: Soundtrack The soundtrack was written and produced by TimeStrike's own sound team in collaboration with Posdnuos of the American hip hop trio De La Soul, an arrangement made without Sega's knowledge. Initially the sound team had developed an 80's-inspired heavy metal soundtrack for Crescent Kicker, but felt it sounded somewhat empty, leading to the collaboration coming to fruition. Thus, the soundtrack meshes the sound of De La Soul (especially their first album, 3 Feet High and Rising) and standard heavy metal acts of the 80's (such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest). It was designed to be catchy and make use of very rich samples that push the Genesis' sound capabilities to their limit. The guitar sound on Crescent Kicker carries a galloping, rhythmic stride. Because of the expiring of the contract between TimeStrike and De La Soul, the game's soundtrack had to be majorly replaced in subsequent rereleases. However, rather than developing their own hip-hop sound, TimeStrike decided to record with numerous other hip-hop artists over the years. They would contribute their own sounds over the heavy metal instrumentals, giving most subsequent rereleases of Crescent Kicker their own unique taste. These soundtracks were costly to make on TimeStrike's behalf, however. The many variants of the game's soundtrack now circulate everywhere on YouTube. In order, the artists that helped produce new Crescent Kicker soundtracks include De La Soul (1995-1999), Public Enemy (1999-2003), Eminem (2003-2007), Jay-Z (2007-2010), Snoop Dogg (2010-2013), OutKast (2014-2018), and Gorillaz (2018-present). The years represent when their contracts were signed and expired, respectively. Gallery CrescentKicker.png|Crescent Kicker Crescent_Kicker_logo.png|Logo Trivia *Crescent Kicker originated from a concept pitched by one of TimeStrike's crew members, whom showed interest in programming a character with top-notch kicking abilities. Category:Snicks' stuff Category:Games Category:Original Games Category:Platforming Games Category:Beat 'em Up Games Category:Sega Genesis Games Category:TimeStrike Products Category:1995